Wildfire Advisory Board

Formation of the La Plata County Wildfire Advisory Board

Throughout 2020 the County participated in Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW), a no-cost grant awarded to the County.  CPAW consisted of county stakeholders working with wildfire planning and forest/fuel management specialists, as well as the United States Forest Service Missoula Fire Science Lab personnel.

October 6, 2020 the final CPAW recommendations were presented to the Board of County Commissioners and the final report published online here. The third recommendation (of 3) was for the Board to transition the CPAW steering group (stakeholders) to a dedicated wildfire council. By Board resolution 2021-09, the Wildfire Advisory Board (WAB) became effective on March 9, 2021.

The WAB performs various roles including making recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners on methods to reduce wildfire risk in La Plata County, working with community partners, obtaining grant funding for and or recommendations for developing and implementing mitigation, the La Plata County CWPP, and options for adoption of ordinances, as well as supporting community education and outreach. Description available here.

Membership

The WAB is comprised of volunteer members of the public who were selected by the Board to serve staggered terms.

Position Member Term
Board Chair Debbie Lee Jan, 2025
Vice Chair Will Walsh Jan, 2025
Regular Member Chessa Gill Jan, 2026
Regular Member Marilyn McCord Jan, 2025
Regular Member   Jan, 2027
Regular Member Karola Hanks Jan, 2027
Regular Member Miles Ellis Jan, 2026
Regular Member David Dallison Jan, 2026
Alternate Member Brent Leisure Jan, 2027
Alternate Member    

Ex-officio members

Durango Fire Protection District John Constan
United States Forest Service, San Juan Cary Newman
Los Pinos Fire Protection District Dan Dosch
Colorado State Forest Service Bryce Powell


WAB test
Wildfire Preparedness Code 

Rules of Conduct

Action tracking

WAB Decision Tracking

Meeting Minutes

CWPP Tracking